Luitpoldings

The Luitpoldings were an East Frankish dynasty that ruled the German stem duchy of Bavaria in the ninth century. They are named after their descent from Margrave Luitpold (or Liutpold) of Bavaria, who reasserted Bavarian autonomy in the early 10th century. His son Arnulf the Bad first assumed the title of Duke of Bavaria.

The Luitpoldings would remain dukes until 947, when the king ceded the Bavarian duchy to his own brother Henry I instead. The Luitpoldings disappear from history after the 10th century, but several houses that are thought to be descending from them (such as the Wittelsbach and the Babenberger) would continue to thrive.

History

Duchy of Bavaria (952–976)

Historical context

After the last Agilolfing duke of Bavaria, Tassilo III, was deposed in 788, Charlemagne and his successors placed Bavaria under the rule of non-hereditary governors and civil servants. By the late 9th century however, Frankish direct power had waned in the region. The conquests of the Hungarians and their recurring invasions had allowed Bavaria's local rulers to grab greater independence.

Margrave Luitpold, the progenitor of the Luitpoldings, set himself up as the most prominent of Bavaria's aristocracy and thereby laid the foundations of the renewed stem duchy.

Origins

Ernstides and Huosi

Luitpold's descent has not been conclusively established. Luitpold and his ancestors are said to have been an offshoot of the early medieval Bavarian Huosi, one of the five leading Bavarian dynasties during the time of the formation of the Bavarian tribes, who flourished in the 8th and 9th century.

His father may have been Ernst II, of the Ernstides dynasty [de]. In this case, his aunt would have been married to Gebhard of the Lahngau, the progenitor of the Conradines. A namesake, Luitpold, who died in 846, could have been a relative.

Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia calls him a blood relative and a cousin. This relation may have gone through Luitpold's father Ernst II, whose possible sister Liutswind was married to the Carolingian King Carloman of Bavaria, and were the parents of Arnulf. If correct, this would explain the transmission of the dukedom of the Bavarian/Bohemian march from Ernst I to Luitpold, both of whom are also recorded as Counts in the Nordgau.

Babenberger

According to early tradition (as well as later Babenberger chroniclers), Luitpold descended from the Elder Babenberger, who in turn descending from the Frankish Popponids [de] and the Robertians. At the same time, the later Leopold I, Margrave of Austria and founder of the Younger Babenberger, is often assumed to have been Luitpold's grandson. Thus Luitpold would be the link between the Elder and Younger Babenberger. Finding the precise chains in this link, however, remains elusive.

In fact, Luitpold sided on the side of the Elder Babenberger enemies, the Conradines, during the Babenberg Feud [de] that led to their fall and near-extinction; he seemed to have played an active role by heading a Conradine army in their siege against the Babenberger.

One possible link is through Luitpold's unnamed sister. Apart from likely fathering Luitpold as well as his direct heir (Ernst III), Ernst II also had a daughter. This daughter married Henry III of Babenberg, a surviving son after the Feud, binding the two dynasties together and adding further legitimacy to Luitpold's power.

As to linking the Younger Babenberger, the connection between Leopold to Luitpold may have been merely based on the similarity of their names, while typical Luitpolding names (Eberhard, Berthold, Arnulf) are absent from the Younger Babenberger. Instead, the Younger Babenberger and their relatives, the Counts of Schweinfurt, can also have descended from Henry III and Luitpold's sister.

Welf

Luitpold's mother is unknown, but could have been a Welf, a daughter of Conrad I the Elder.

Dukes of Bavaria

In 893, Emperor Arnulf appointed Luitpold Margrave of Carinthia and Upper Pannonia to succeed to the Wilhelminer margrave Engelschalk II. Luitpold was able to enlarge his Bavarian possessions around Regensburg and in the adjacent March of the Nordgau. He became a military leader during the Hungarian invasions and was killed in the 907 Battle of Pressburg.

While the Kingdom of Germany emerged under the rule of King Conrad I and his successors (the Ottonian dynasty), Luitpold's son and heir Arnulf the Bad was backed by the local nobility and adopted the Bavarian ducal title. He reorganized the defense against the Hungarian invaders and, according to the contemporary Annales iuvavenses, built up a king-like position at his Regensburg residence. He inevitably interfered with the Ottonian King Henry I of Germany, whose rule he finally acknowledged in 921, reserving numerous privileges for himself. Given a free hand, he campaigned in the lands of the Přemyslid duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia and in 933–934 even invaded the Kingdom of Italy, in order to obtain the Iron Crown of Lombardy for his son Eberhard, though without success.

Decline

Eberhard had succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria in 937. However, he soon struggled with King Otto I of Germany, who had no intention to respect the Bavarian autonomy. King Otto declared Eberhard deposed and banned him the next year.

Instead of Eberhard, King Otto appointed Arnulf's brother Berthold duke, after he had renounced the exercise of the Bavarian liberties. Berthold would remain a loyal supporter of King Otto.

Nevertheless, upon Berthold's death in 947, the hereditary title of his son Henry the Younger was denied and the king ceded the Bavarian duchy to his own brother Henry I, on the grounds that he was married to Arnulf's daughter Judith. In 976, Henry the Younger received a certain compensation from Emperor Otto II with the newly established Duchy of Carinthia. In 983, he even regained the Bavarian ducal title, however, two years later he had to yield the force of the Ottonian Duke Henry the Wrangler. With Henry the Younger's death in 989, the line of the Luitpoldings ended.

Genealogy

Genealogical table

Luitpold (d. 907), Margrave of Carinthia and Upper Pannonia, Count in the Nordgau
⚭ 1. N.N.

• Arnulf the Bad († 937), 907-937 Duke of Bavaria, 921 has to accept the overlordship of King Henry the Fowler
  • Eberhard, 937-938 Duke of Bavaria, 938 deposed and banned by King Otto I of Germany
  • Arnulf II (913 – 954), 938 Bavarian Count palatine
    • Berthold of Reisensburg (930 – 999), Bavarian Count Palatine
  • (?) Berthold of Schweinfurt, Count of Schweinfurt, Margrave of the Nordgau, founder of the House of Schweinfurt
    • Henry of Schweinfurt, Margrave of the Nordgau
  • Judith, Duchess of Bavaria (925 – 985), married Henry I (younger brother of King Otto I, 939-940 Duke of Lotharingia, 948-955 Duke of Bavaria until his death in 955), 955-972 Regent of Bavaria during the minority of her son Henry the Wrangler
  • (?) Leopold I, Margrave of Austria, founder of the House of Babenberg

⚭ 2. Kunigunde of Swabia (c. 882 – 915), an Alaholfing , sister of Count Erchanger, possibly a daughter of Count palatine Berchthold I of Swabia a sister of Empress Richardis, remarried King Conrad I after Luitpold's death

• Berthold († 947), 938-947 Duke of Bavaria (upon the deposition of his nephew Eberhard)
  • Henry the Younger, 976-978 Duke of Carinthia, 983-985 Duke of Bavaria, 985-989 Duke of Carinthia

Schematic family tree

The key Luitpoldings are shown below. Since heraldry did not yet exist, coat of arms have been added only for people to be easily recognized. The reconstruction is uncertain and based on Roskilde Historie. The addition of Leopold I (and his Babenberger descendants) as well as the Counts of Scheyern (and their Wittelsbach descendants) here is tentative.

N.N.

Luitpold ⚭ 1. N.N. ⚭ 2. Kunigunde Alaholfing of Swabia

Herold

Arnulf I, the Bad ⚭ Judith of Friuli

Berthold ⚭ Wiltrude von Bergen

Eberhard ⚭ Liutgarde of Lotharingia

Arnulf II ⚭ N.N.

Judith ⚭ Henry I of Bavaria

Berthold of Schweinfurt ⚭ Eilika of Walbeck

Henry III, the Younger ⚭ Gisela of Burgundy

Wichburg ⚭ Hartwig I Walpot von Isengau

Wichfried

Berthold ⚭ N.N. of Lotharingia

Counts of Schweinfurt

Leopold I ⚭ Richeza of Saulafeldgau

Fredrick ⚭ Emma (Kunigunde) von Oehningen

Counts of Scheyern

Margraves of Babenberg

Counts of Dießen

Counts of Andechs

House of Wittelsbach

Dukes of Babenberg

	Duke
	Landgrave / Margrave / Count Palatinate
	Count

Descendants

• Counts of Diessen and Andechs (likely)
  • These extinct noble houses are thought to descend from Arnulf II the son of Arnulf the Bad.

• House of Babenberg (possibly)
  • Leopold I is known to have been either a brother or a nephew of Berthold of Schweinfurt, and he is speculated to be a grandson of Luitpold I through Arnulf the Bad.

• Counts of Schweinfurt (possibly)
  • Berthold of Schweinfurt, founder of the House of Schweinfurt and a possible ancestor of the Counts of Scheyern and the later Wittelsbach dynasty, is also speculated to be a grandson of Luitpold I through Arnulf the Bad.

• Counts of Scheyern and House of Wittelsbach (possibly)
  • An affiliation with the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach is possible through the Counts of Schweinfurt. Count palatine Arnulf II had a castle built at Scheyern around 940; the descendants of Count Otto I of Scheyern are rated as ancestors of the Wittelsbachs.